58 Facts About Abdul Kalam

Abdul Kalam was born and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu and studied physics and aerospace engineering.

Abdul Kalam spent the next four decades as a scientist and science administrator, mainly at the Defence Research and Development Organisation and Indian Space Research Organisation and was intimately involved in India's civilian space programme and military missile development efforts.

Abdul Kalam thus came to be known as the Missile Man of India for his work on the development of ballistic missile and launch vehicle technology.

Abdul Kalam played a pivotal organisational, technical, and political role in India's Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998, the first since the original nuclear test by India in 1974.

Abdul Kalam was a recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour.

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Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam was born on 15 October 1931, to a Tamil Muslim family in the pilgrimage centre of Rameswaram on Pamban Island, then in the Madras Presidency and now in the State of Tamil Nadu.

Abdul Kalam's father Jainulabdeen Marakayar was a boat owner and imam of a local mosque; his mother Ashiamma was a housewife.

Abdul Kalam's father owned a ferry that took Hindu pilgrims back and forth between Rameswaram and the now uninhabited Dhanushkodi.

Abdul Kalam was the youngest of four brothers and one sister in his family.

Abdul Kalam's ancestors had been wealthy Marakayar traders and landowners, with numerous properties and large tracts of land.

Abdul Kalam moved to Madras in 1955 to study aerospace engineering in Madras Institute of Technology.

Abdul Kalam met the deadline, impressing the Dean, who later said to him, "I was putting you under stress and asking you to meet a difficult deadline".

Abdul Kalam narrowly missed achieving his dream of becoming a fighter pilot, as he placed ninth in qualifiers, and only eight positions were available in the IAF.

Abdul Kalam started his career by designing a small hovercraft, but remained unconvinced by his choice of a job at DRDO.

Abdul Kalam was part of the INCOSPAR committee working under Vikram Sarabhai, the renowned space scientist.

In 1969, Abdul Kalam was transferred to the Indian Space Research Organisation where he was the project director of India's first Satellite Launch Vehicle which successfully deployed the Rohini satellite in near-earth orbit in July 1980; Abdul Kalam had first started work on an expandable rocket project independently at DRDO in 1965.

In 1969, Abdul Kalam received the government's approval and expanded the programme to include more engineers.

Between the 1970s and 1990s, Abdul Kalam made an effort to develop the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle and SLV-III projects, both of which proved to be successful.

Abdul Kalam was invited by Raja Ramanna to witness the country's first nuclear test Smiling Buddha as the representative of TBRL, even though he had not participated in its development.

Abdul Kalam played an integral role convincing the Union Cabinet to conceal the true nature of these classified aerospace projects.

Abdul Kalam played a major part in developing many missiles under the mission including Agni, an intermediate range ballistic missile and Prithvi, the tactical surface-to-surface missile, although the projects have been criticised for mismanagement and cost and time overruns.

Abdul Kalam served as the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister and Secretary of the Defence Research and Development Organisation from July 1992 to December 1999.

Abdul Kalam served as the Chief Project Coordinator, along with Rajagopala Chidambaram, during the testing phase.

In 1998, along with cardiologist Soma Raju, Abdul Kalam developed a low cost coronary stent, named the "Abdul Kalam-Raju Stent".

Abdul Kalam won the 2002 presidential election with an electoral vote of 922,884, surpassing the 107,366 votes won by Lakshmi Sahgal.

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Polling for the presidential election began on 15 July 2002, in Parliament and the state assemblies, with the media claiming that the election was a one-sided affair and Abdul Kalam's victory was a foregone conclusion; the count was held on 18 July.

Abdul Kalam was the third President of India to have been honoured with a Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour, before becoming the President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Zakir Hussain were the earlier recipients of Bharat Ratna who later became the President of India.

Abdul Kalam was the first scientist and the first bachelor to occupy Rashtrapati Bhawan.

Abdul Kalam was criticised for his inaction in deciding the fate of 20 out of the 21 mercy petitions submitted to him during his tenure.

Abdul Kalam acted on only one mercy plea in his five-year tenure as president, rejecting the plea of rapist Dhananjoy Chatterjee, who was later hanged.

Abdul Kalam took the controversial decision to impose President's Rule in Bihar in 2005.

In September 2003, in an interactive session in PGI Chandigarh, Abdul Kalam supported the need of Uniform Civil Code in India, keeping in view the population of the country.

Abdul Kalam Was prosped by third front named United National Progressive Alliance leader J Jayalalithaa and coordinator Chandrababu Naidu other leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Om Prakash Chautala, But Abdul Kalam did not have the support of the left parties, Shiv Sena and UPA constituents, to receive a renewed mandate.

Abdul Kalam taught information technology at the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad, and technology at Banaras Hindu University and Anna University.

In 2011, Abdul Kalam was criticised by civil groups over his stand on the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant; he supported the establishment of the nuclear power plant and was accused of not speaking with the local people.

In May 2012, Abdul Kalam launched a programme for the youth of India called the What Can I Give Movement, with a central theme of defeating corruption.

On 27 July 2015, Abdul Kalam travelled to Shillong to deliver a lecture on "Creating a Livable Planet Earth" at the Indian Institute of Management Shillong.

Abdul Kalam was rushed to the nearby Bethany Hospital in a critical condition; upon arrival, he lacked a pulse or any other signs of life.

Abdul Kalam's body was received at the airport by the three service chiefs and national and state dignitaries, including cabinet ministers Manohar Parrikar, Venkaiah Naidu, Pon Radhakrishnan and the governors of Tamil Nadu and Meghalaya, K Rosaiah and V Shanmuganathan.

Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay expressed deep sadness, saying Abdul Kalam "was a leader greatly admired by all people, especially the youth of India who have referred to him as the people's President".

Abdul Kalam's death is an irreparable loss not only to India but to the entire world.

Abdul Kalam was the youngest of five siblings, the eldest of whom was a sister, Asim Zohra, followed by three elder brothers: Mohammed Muthu Meera Lebbai Maraikayar, Mustafa Abdul Kalam and Kasim Mohammed.

Abdul Kalam was extremely close to his elder siblings and their extended families throughout his life, and would regularly send small sums of money to his older relations, himself remaining a lifelong bachelor.

Abdul Kalam was noted for his integrity and his simple lifestyle.

Abdul Kalam never owned a television, and was in the habit of rising at 6:30 or 7am and sleeping by 2am His few personal possessions included his books, his veena, some articles of clothing, a CD player and a laptop; at his death, he left no will, and his possessions went to his eldest brother, who survived him.

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Abdul Kalam made his own spiritual journey the subject of his final book, Transcendence: My Spiritual Experiences with Pramukh Swamiji.

Abdul Kalam's father had impressed upon the young Kalam the value of interfaith respect and dialogue.

Abdul Kalam enjoyed writing Tamil poetry, playing the veena, and listening to Carnatic devotional music every day.

Abdul Kalam stated that he was inspired by Pramukh Swami throughout their numerous interactions.

Abdul Kalam recalled being moved by Pramukh Swami's equanimity and compassion, citing this incident as one of his motivations for writing Transcendence: My Spiritual Experiences with Pramukh Swamiji.

Abdul Kalam is the ultimate stage of the spiritual ascent in my life.

Abdul Kalam regarded his work on India's nuclear weapons programme as a way to assert India's place as a future superpower.

Abdul Kalam describes a "transformative moment" in his life when he asked Pramukh Swami, the guru of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sampradaya, how India might realise this five-pronged vision of development.

Abdul Kalam took an active interest in other developments in the field of science and technology, including a research programme for developing biomedical implants.

Abdul Kalam supported open source technology over proprietary software, predicting that the use of free software on a large scale would bring the benefits of information technology to more people.

Abdul Kalam set a target of interacting with 100,000 students during the two years after his resignation from the post of scientific adviser in 1999.

In 1997, Abdul Kalam received India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, for his contribution to the scientific research and modernisation of defence technology in India.

In 2012, Abdul Kalam was ranked number 2 in Outlook India's poll of the Greatest Indian.